Everyone was very pleased when EA announced that Battlefront II would feature a whole season of free DLC maps, doing away with the super expensive season pass from the first game – which only ended up splintering the userbase into the haves and the have-nots.

But there’s no such thing as a free lunch and earlier this week YouTube channel BattlefrontUpdates broke the news that Battlefront II would have paid-for loot crates, much like Overwatch and other online shooters.

Unlike Overwatch (or DICE’s own Battlefield) the crates will contain items that are not purely cosmetic and will affect gameplay. That didn’t go down well with some fans, but EA has now offered an official explanation.

EA has clarified that the crates contain random Star Cards which grant abilities such as extra health, damage, or things like healing nearby team-mates.

Doubles can be converted into generic ‘crafting parts’ which can be used to upgrade the cards you already have.

Technically this means that if you’re super rich you can just spend a fortune on loot crates and kit yourself out with a super powerful character straight away.

EA hasn’t denied this is possible, but they have pointed out that you can earn currency to buy more crates simply by playing the game.

‘Players will be rewarded in the game through regular play in many different, earnable ways including crates,’ EA told Eurogamer. ‘For those that want to accelerate the rewards, they can do so by purchasing crates that contain randomised items and rewards.’

At least EA aren’t trying to hide anything, but the question is whether fans will dismiss this as ‘play to win’ or if they’ll accept it as a price worth paying, as it were, for having free DLC.